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Author Topic: Ashly Remote iPad App  (Read 6664 times)

Scott Carneval

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Ashly Remote iPad App
« on: November 01, 2013, 10:59:19 PM »

Has anyone used this yet on an install?  I'm installing a pema amp in a restaurant next week and plan to use the app to control it.  We have 3 sources (music, TV, Mic) feeding 3 zones (Bar, Patio, Dining).  The programming side looks pretty straightforward, just looking for some realworld experience if anyone has used it yet.
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Craig Hauber

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Re: Ashly Remote iPad App
« Reply #1 on: November 01, 2013, 11:27:29 PM »

Has anyone used this yet on an install?  I'm installing a pema amp in a restaurant next week and plan to use the app to control it.  We have 3 sources (music, TV, Mic) feeding 3 zones (Bar, Patio, Dining).  The programming side looks pretty straightforward, just looking for some realworld experience if anyone has used it yet.
I've used the control canvas on the desktop software to control an installation.  If the ipad app is anything like the desktop software (which it does seem to be) then I feel it is not quite ready for prime-time un-attended use yet. 
I would recommend making sure the system can work properly without it as a fall-back (like with hardwired WR-5 and WR-1 remotes)
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Craig Hauber
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Steven Barnes

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Re: Ashly Remote iPad App
« Reply #2 on: November 02, 2013, 10:19:36 AM »

Has anyone used this yet on an install?  I'm installing a pema amp in a restaurant next week and plan to use the app to control it.  We have 3 sources (music, TV, Mic) feeding 3 zones (Bar, Patio, Dining).  The programming side looks pretty straightforward, just looking for some realworld experience if anyone has used it yet.

We have it running in 6 installs thus far with great success, and have a couple more going in this next week. Many different types of install running on ne24.24m, ne8250pe, and ne8250.70pe. 4 of the 6 installs have a manual backup (WR-5s), but the other 2 are iPad only. Haven't had any issues with any of them.

One note, you must have a rock solid network to run it on though. We usually spec Unifi AP LR Access Points depending on the size of the venue, and a decent router.

From the programming side of things it is really straight forward, Ashly has great tech support if you have any specific questions that you can't figure out.
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Steven Barnes

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Re: Ashly Remote iPad App
« Reply #3 on: November 02, 2013, 10:23:14 AM »

I've used the control canvas on the desktop software to control an installation.  If the ipad app is anything like the desktop software (which it does seem to be) then I feel it is not quite ready for prime-time un-attended use yet. 
I would recommend making sure the system can work properly without it as a fall-back (like with hardwired WR-5 and WR-1 remotes)

Hey Craig,

It is night and day difference from the  desktop control surface, definitely a usably product. With the release of new iPads, you can buy refurbished iPad 2 and 3 for $250-300, which with the price of a router puts it in the range of 2 wr-5's for those budget installs.

definitely agree with the manual backup, never had a network issue, but the managers tend to forget to charge the iPad etc.
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Scott Carneval

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Re: Ashly Remote iPad App
« Reply #4 on: November 06, 2013, 08:11:08 AM »

We have it running in 6 installs thus far with great success, and have a couple more going in this next week. Many different types of install running on ne24.24m, ne8250pe, and ne8250.70pe. 4 of the 6 installs have a manual backup (WR-5s), but the other 2 are iPad only. Haven't had any issues with any of them.

One note, you must have a rock solid network to run it on though. We usually spec Unifi AP LR Access Points depending on the size of the venue, and a decent router.

From the programming side of things it is really straight forward, Ashly has great tech support if you have any specific questions that you can't figure out.

Thanks for the input everyone.  My plan is to try it in the shop with the iPad for a few days and make sure everything is running smoothly, and then install.  I had considered installing the WR5 remotes as backups, but at $250 each and needing one for each zone, that's more expensive than the iPad and router, not to mention the WR-5's seem far less intuitive than the iPad.  My plan instead for a 'backup' is to use the event scheduler to program the amp to turn on every morning at 10am playing background music at an agreed-upon level.  In the event that the iPad cannot connect, the system will already be up and running.  The mic is used weekly for trivia, but it will be programmed as a ducker, so the iPad isn't required to use it.  Also, this isn't a sports bar by any means, so the TV audio is seldom used and is by no means 'critical'.  If the iPad proves to be troublesome then we will look to another solution, most likely a WR-5 for each zone. 

Steven, do you have any screen shots of your iPad program that you wouldn't mind sharing?  I've already laid out and programmed mine, but I'm interested to see a different perspective.
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Steven Barnes

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Re: Ashly Remote iPad App
« Reply #5 on: November 06, 2013, 04:13:29 PM »

Thanks for the input everyone.  My plan is to try it in the shop with the iPad for a few days and make sure everything is running smoothly, and then install.  I had considered installing the WR5 remotes as backups, but at $250 each and needing one for each zone, that's more expensive than the iPad and router, not to mention the WR-5's seem far less intuitive than the iPad.  My plan instead for a 'backup' is to use the event scheduler to program the amp to turn on every morning at 10am playing background music at an agreed-upon level.  In the event that the iPad cannot connect, the system will already be up and running.  The mic is used weekly for trivia, but it will be programmed as a ducker, so the iPad isn't required to use it.  Also, this isn't a sports bar by any means, so the TV audio is seldom used and is by no means 'critical'.  If the iPad proves to be troublesome then we will look to another solution, most likely a WR-5 for each zone. 

Steven, do you have any screen shots of your iPad program that you wouldn't mind sharing?  I've already laid out and programmed mine, but I'm interested to see a different perspective.

I will get some screenshots uploaded later this evening. I just put together a decent sized demo rig at the shop for a possible upcoming install (2-ne24.24m, 2- ne8250pe and 4 iPads on a network).

Another thing to keep in mind is the WR-5 does not need do everything if it is a backup if cost is an issue. For example if source selection is not critical in your application, you can use 1- WR-5 to control gain in 6 zones and not worry about sours selection.
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Steven Barnes

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Re: Ashly Remote iPad App
« Reply #6 on: November 07, 2013, 05:53:57 PM »

Thanks for the input everyone.  My plan is to try it in the shop with the iPad for a few days and make sure everything is running smoothly, and then install.  I had considered installing the WR5 remotes as backups, but at $250 each and needing one for each zone, that's more expensive than the iPad and router, not to mention the WR-5's seem far less intuitive than the iPad.  My plan instead for a 'backup' is to use the event scheduler to program the amp to turn on every morning at 10am playing background music at an agreed-upon level.  In the event that the iPad cannot connect, the system will already be up and running.  The mic is used weekly for trivia, but it will be programmed as a ducker, so the iPad isn't required to use it.  Also, this isn't a sports bar by any means, so the TV audio is seldom used and is by no means 'critical'.  If the iPad proves to be troublesome then we will look to another solution, most likely a WR-5 for each zone. 

Steven, do you have any screen shots of your iPad program that you wouldn't mind sharing?  I've already laid out and programmed mine, but I'm interested to see a different perspective.

I have attached a couple basic screenshots.

First- Volume control/ course selection for a small restaurant, pardon the check marks, it was not connected to the Ashly, and this is the way it the program defaults the first time you load it after programming.

Second- Separate volume control page w/ meters for outputs

Third- Source selection for the same zones above. You have mutual exclusivity options on the source selection, so I have it set so they can only listen to input at a time, but they can active the mic by itself or with any other single source selected.

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Scott Carneval

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Re: Ashly Remote iPad App
« Reply #7 on: November 11, 2013, 06:43:41 PM »

I got the system installed and commissioned last night.  This was an existing restaurant, and they're open 7 days, so we had to work through the night.  We started at 1am and were finished by about 5:30am.  We have a dedicated Airport Express for the amp and iPad, so it's isolated from the rest of the network.  We also routed the audio output from the Airport back into the Ashly so they can stream music from the iPad via Airplay as a backup in the event that their playback PC fails.  As I mentioned earlier, we scheduled the amp to turn on at 9:30am and load a preset so that all zones play the PC audio automatically.  The amp is scheduled to go into standby at 2:30am every night, so the system pretty much runs itself. The preset volume is slightly louder than they would typically want, which would allow them to attenuate using the front panel controls in the event of an iPad failure.  There are two iPads on site, so there is redundancy. 

The install was pretty straightforward except for some issues with the existing wiring that took a couple hours to correct.  We were able to literally replace an entire rack of analog gear with a single Ashly pema4250.70.  The client was very impressed.  The iPad control worked flawlessly and the staff was able to use it with very little instruction.  I look forward to using this configuration on future installs. 

We have three zones: the Bar, Back Room, and Patio.  To me, it seemed most intuitive to have a separate page for each zone, with a virtual mixer on each page.  We did link the mic level across all three pages because it seemed cumbersome to require the user to navigate all three pages just to make a quick announcement.  Everything else is independent, all sources EXCEPT the mic are set to be mutually exclusive.  I also built a Home/Welcome page to help them get started.  Screenshots are below:
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Re: Ashly Remote iPad App
« Reply #7 on: November 11, 2013, 06:43:41 PM »


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